(2 of )autumn

Upcoming home and garden events in Sonoma County

The old Graton Community Club will be steeped in autumnal sights and smells for “Bringing in the Harvest”, the club’s annual Fall Flower Show on Oct. 13 and 14.

More than a flower show, the two-day event will feature a plant sale, crafts and homemade gifts, white elephant treasures, a drawing and live music. A lunch will be available from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for $10; dessert, coffee and wine will be available for purchase all day. Free admission. Proceeds from the sales help support clubhouse maintenance as well as a scholarship fund for Santa Rosa Junior College students transferring to four-year colleges. For information call 707-829-5314 or gratoncommunityclub.org.

SANTA ROSA

Tech expo for disabled

Grace Pavilion at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds will be filled with assistive technology for veterans, seniors and people with disabilities on Oct. 13 for the Tech Expo & More.

New and state-of-the-art ways to modify the home and vehicles, as well as helpful assistive technology devices will be on display at the annual expo. More than 100 exhibitors featuring products and services to assist people with physical, and mental challenges, will be on hand, along with information about alternative health and funding resources.

The event is put on by Disability Services & Legal Center, which provides information, resources, legal assistance and more for people with disabilities. The non-profit is based in Santa Rosa. The expo runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is free. 1350 Bennett Valley Road, Santa Rosa. For more information call 707-636-3063.

GLEN ELLEN

Historian Wulf at Quarryhill

Historian Andrea Wulf, author of a best-selling biography of geographer, naturalist and explorer Alexander Von Humboldt, as well as other works exploring botanical and gardening history, will appear at Quarryhill Botanical Garden on Oct. 13 as part of its second annual lecture series.

Wulf studied design at the Royal College of Art in London and has written for major publications from The Guardian and the Sunday Times to the Financial Times, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. She is a three-time fellow of the International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello in Virginia, as well as an International Fellow of the Explorer’s Club, The Linnean Society and the Royal Geographical Society.

Her other works include “The Brother Gardeners,” “Chasing Venus,” and “Founding Gardeners: The Revolutionary Generation, Nature and the Shaping of the American Nation.” She co-authored “This Other Eden,” and has lectured around the world from the Royal Geographical Society and Royal Society in London to the New York Public Library.

Cost for the lecture is $45, $35 for members. Gates open at 5 p.m. with the lecture at 5:30 p.m. Refreshments will be available, as well as wine and beer for sale. 12841 Sonoma Hwy 12, Glen Ellen. For information call 707-996-3166.

WINDSOR

Worshop on fungi

Fungi are neither plants nor animals, but what they do can make a big difference in the health of your garden. How bad can they get? How helpful can they be? What are their unexpected uses? The Sonoma County Master Gardeners will answer these questions and more during a free workshop Saturday Oct. 7 playfully titled “Are We Having Fungi Yet?” 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Windsor Library, 1020 Old Redwood Hwy., Bldg 100, Windsor. sonomamg.ucanr.edu.

What can you do to help the monarch butterfly? Master Gardener Suzanne Clarke will offer ideas during a free workshop, “Monarchs and Milkweed,” Saturday Oct. 7 at the Petaluma Library. She will discuss feeding anatomy, life cycle, diet and the distribution of West Coast and East Coast populations of monarchs, as well as what home gardeners can do to help them survive. Workshop attendees can see her caterpillar to butterfly cage. 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. 100 Fairgrounds Drive, Petaluma.

SANTA ROSA

Superstar plants

Fall is the best time to plant perennials, when the soil is still warm and winter rains will help establish the roots by spring. Stock up on new plants for your landscape at the Sonoma County Jail Plant Nursery and Teaching Garden sale on Saturday Oct. 7. There will be plenty of natives as well as Sonoma County “superstar” plants proven to thrive in our climate. They will also have drought-tolerant shrubs, groundcovers and trees. 9 a.m. to noon. at 2254 Ordinance Road at Airport Boulevard, Santa Rosa.

SEBASTOPOL

Save your own seeds

Master Gardener Electra de Peyster will lead two free workshops, on Saturday Oct. 7 and Oct. 14, on “Seed Saving in the Home Garden.” She will cover everything from pollination and storage to how long you can expect seed to last. 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday Oct. 7 at the Sebastopol Library, 7140 Bodega Ave., Sebastopol. It will be repeated during the same hours on Oct. 14 at the Rohnert Park Library, 6250 Lynne Conde Way, Rohnert Park. sonomamg.ucanr.edu.

GUERNEVILLE

Reblooming orchids

Did you know that the orchid you bought at the supermarket can actually rebloom? Learn how to keep that plant alive and blooming for many years during a free, hands-on workshop Oct. 14 at the Guerneville Regional Library. Bring your own spent orchid to work on if you’d like. 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. 14107 Armstrong Woods Road, Guerneville. sonomamg.ucanr.edu.

SANTA ROSA

Willowside School plant sale returns

Willowside School is back in session and its nursery back in business. The student-run business offers thousands of plants for sale, from low-water and drought-resistant plants to California natives, succulents, grasses, habitat plants and Japanese maples.

The next sale is from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 21. Prices are a bargain and proceeds benefit the school. The nursery also accepts donations of healthy plants, garden tools, working wagons, ceramic pots and recycled 1- and 5-gallon nursery containers. For those who can’t make it on Saturdays, the nursery welcomes volunteers or shoppers on Tuesdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. 5299 Hall Road, Santa Rosa, at the corner of Willowside Road.

Compiled by Meg McConahey. Send Home and Garden news to meg.mcconahey@pressdemocrat.com or call 707-521-5204. Please submit items at least three weeks in advance of an event.